Cleansers -La Roche Posay - Toleriane Purifying Foaming Cream Cleanser 
paintingitpink 5/12/2013 3:54:00 PM
This one didn't work for me, and there was really nothing special about this cleanser to spend $30 on again. My skin is combo/dry and I have mild breakouts. I really like the Toleriane ultra moisturizer, and I thought I would try this. There's nothing about this cleanser that is moisturizing. Yes, the texture is creamy, but I actually found it made my skin a bit dry. It didn't fully remove my face makeup. Also, for a "pure" cleanser, I was surprised that it burned my eyes! I used it up completely, but I wouldn't purchase it again. It would be good for someone with super oily skin, but if you have dry or sensitive skin look for something else.
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Eye Shadow -Maybelline - Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Shadow in Painted Purple
paintingitpink 5/12/2013 2:48:00 PM
I know this eyeshadow is getting some bad reviews. I agree - as an eyeshadow it's not the greatest. It's definitely not as pigmented as the other tattoo colors (Bad to the Bronze is amazing!). By itself, it's not a great eyeshadow. However, I think this makes an amazing eyeshadow base for purple eyeshadow. The colour is an exact dupe to NYX's jumbo eye pencil in Purple, but unlike the jumbo eye pencils, it doesn't crease! It's a great base to make my purple eyeshadow look more vibrant. I like layering Vellum, Seedy Pearl and Satellite Dreams over it. It also pairs beautifully with my plummy browns such as Twins and Sable. If you're looking for a good eyeshadow "base" this works great. If you're looking for a vibrant purple cream shadow, look else ware.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Ground Brown (Pro)
paintingitpink 5/12/2013 2:22:00 PM
I'm totally surprised that there are no reviews on this shadow! Ground Brown is MAC PRO colour, so it is a bit hard to get a hold of. This colour is honestly one of the BEST MAC shadows ever! All MAC brown shadows in the permanent line are either red (warm) based or grey (cool) based. This shadow is truly dark BROWN! It is neither too warm or cool and would look good on everybody. This shadow has a beautiful texture. Most matte shadows are a bit chalky, and the matte2 shadows can be a bit powdery. Ground Brown has a beautiful PIGMENTED texture. It honestly makes the best smokey eye and makes for an AMAZING eyeliner too. I will definitely repurchase, but it takes me at least a couple of years to use up a MAC shadow. This shadow is worth the hassle of making a special trip to the PRO store or ordering online.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Liquid -MAC - Mineralize Moisture SPF 15
paintingitpink 4/11/2013 5:58:00 PM
Pros: - great medium coverage - doesn't oxidize - leaves skin hydrated and glowing - only a small amount needed for entire face (less than dime sized) - bottle comes with a pump Cons: - skin will get shiny throughout the day - skin may look shiny in photos My skin type: NC15, combination with oily forehead and dry chin/cheeks. I've been doing AHA treatments for acne. I've been using this for about a month - the sample from Mac lasted me three weeks and I enjoyed it so much decided to purchase a full size bottle. My skin is super dry and patchy from the treatments, so I don’t like wearing heavy matte foundations, because they tend to emphasize my dry patches. My all time favourite foundation is Mac's Face & Body, but the coverage is light, and unless my skin is looking good I can't wear it easily. I found this foundation works best to apply it with my hands and I set it with MSF powder and spray on Skindinavia. Even with the Skindinavia I can't go all day without powdering my forehead (it gets shiny after about four hours). In photos, this foundation doesn’t look the best - my skin looks a bit oily, but it really doesn't look like this in real life. Face & Body photographs BEAUTIFULLY and it truly makes my skin “glow” in photos without looking greasy. However, I really enjoy this as an everyday foundation and I like how this hydrates my skin throughout the day. I’ve used this for a month with literally no breakouts whatsoever. I doubt it will be able to withstand the summer heat, but I’ve really been enjoying it in the dry winter.
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Eye Shadow -MAC - Daydreaming
paintingitpink 4/11/2013 11:44:00 AM
Daydreaming eyeshadow is from the Hayley Williams collection (online only). I was hesitant to buy it online without swatching it, but I took my chances because it's a veluxe pearl finish, which is my favourite Mac shadow finish. Mac describes it as coral, but it really isn't coral at all. In the pan, it looks identical to Sushi Flower, which in my opinion is dry and badly pigmented. However, when you apply the shadow its actually super pigmented red-pink eyeshadow. If you love warm, red, or copper eyeshadow and have blue or green eyes, this shadow is essential! Coppering is one of my favourite eyeshadows because it makes my eyes super blue. Daydreaming is quite different, so it's worth having both. Daydreaming definitely red based, and really not very coral (which some people may not like). Coppering is more, well copper! Whenever I wear red or copper eyeshadow, I always put it on top of a dark brown or black base - Constructivist is awesome for this! This shadow definitely isn't going to look good on everybody - skip this if coppers or red shadows make you look sickly. These colours work really well with my pale skin tone and blue eyes, so I'm very happy I purchased this!
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Treatments -Unlisted Brand - Polysporin Cold Sore Healing Patch
paintingitpink 12/20/2011 3:55:00 PM
This is one of the worst products that I have ever encountered! I'm lucky that I only get a cold sore every 2-3 years now. This time I ran out of my medication, so I decided to try this because I had seen the ad for this and it seemed intriguing. The box cost me $17CND after a $5 off coupon and it came with 15 patches. Anyone who has had a cold sore, knows how hard they are to conceal, even with makeup. Not only is it tricky to blend, I have to be extremely careful with my brushes and not contaminate my makeup. The selling point is that the patch can be worn under makeup and lipstick and conceals the sore while adding healing medication. So the patch is a large circle that does fit over the sore. However it has the look and feel of scotch tape. Ever tried putting makeup over scotch tape? It won't work!!!! I tried blending concealer over it and it only made it more noticeable, and it gave a white circle around the patch. Lipstick? Don't even think about it! It smeared all over the circle and surrounding skin. Even without the makeup it looked like I had this ridiculous circle of tape on my face. Lastly, when I realized at how horrific it looked and I tried to take the patch off, it ripped off my skin and caused my cold sore to bleed. I was absolutely disgusting, and it took quite a bit longer to heal than normal. I didn't leave it on long enough to attest to the so called healing cream in the product, but I definitely think that this won't speed up the healing process. This is false advertising so I STRONGLY suggest that you don't buy it!!! Also, the price is a rip off for what you get. I returned mine to Shoppers for a full refund!!!!
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Styling Products -Unlisted Brand - KQC X-Heat Flat Iron
paintingitpink 12/5/2011 8:14:00 PM
This flat iron seems to have flooded the youtube community, so I'm surprised that there aren't any reviews for this yet. My hair is shoulder length, straight and very thin. I had 7 year old FHI flat iron which finally died, so I spent a couple of months researching a new one to buy. I don't have frizzy hair, and I only used my FHI for taming fly always and adding texture. I tried to curl my hair with it, but it just seemed to snag and the curl was choppy and uneven. I decided to buy the KQC X-Heat because it seemed like it would be great for curling. Anyway, so now that I have it, I'm totally impressed! It lights up in less than 30 seconds, and the red light flashes when its hot. The temperature settings are adjustable, which is great. The plates are SO smooth that my hair just glides through. When I straighten my hair it somehow actually makes my hair shinier and full of volume. My favourite use of this is the curling feature. If you want to curl, definitely watch the youtube videos, because it take some getting used to it. Once you get the hang of it, it's so easy to twist and curl and I really like how I can make lose or tight curls. The curls last longer than my hot tools curling irons. The only downside to this is that the ends of the flat iron get too hot to touch, which can be kind of hard when curling your hair. Overall this is a great multipurpose flat iron and if it ever dies would repurchase again!
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Treatments -John Frieda - Go Blonder Lightening Spray
paintingitpink 12/5/2011 7:57:00 PM
This product is definitely not for those who are cool toned and have blue-blonde highlights. My hair is naturally dark blonde/light brown and I have blue toned, level 10 blonde highlights. I saw some reviews online for this and I decided to try it out to see if it could extend the life out of my highlights. I've used 1-2 times a week and I sprayed it mostly at my roots. I was initially impressed because it didn't turn my hair orange like sun-in. Having let my highlights grow out for about three months, and I'm not impressed. While my hair isn't orange, it's definitely turned a golden, somewhat brassy blonde. I'm cool toned, NC15, and tanless so this colour doesn't look very good on me. My natural roots look much better. If you have honey toned highlights and a tan this product would probably work great. I was expecting it to compliment the Go Blonder shampoo and conditioner, but even the purple shampoo and conditioner can't take away the brassiness.
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Styling Products -Unlisted Brand - Motions Foaming Wrap Lotion
paintingitpink 10/29/2011 4:47:00 PM
Awesome product. I have fine, thin, straight hair that doesn't hold a curl. I had to find this product at an ethnic hair store, and it was only $4.99. This stuff holds my hair beautifully for all types of wet sets: foam rollers, curlformers and pin curls. It doesn't crust, and the curls last until I wash my hair again. I never use hairspray on the curls, which for me is unheard of. It does contain alcohol, so I definitely don't use this product daily, only when I have the time to set my hair. I used to use Lottabody setting lotion, but this one is a million times better. If you're into wet sets or vintage hairstyling, this product is a must! UPDATE: I just purchased the "extra hold" version from Sally's. It is OUTSTANDING! My curls come out beautiful and they last for days. I thought the extra hold might leave curls a bit stiffer and crunchy, but it doesn't.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Eye Shadow -MAC - Carbonized
paintingitpink 8/27/2011 11:56:00 PM
Awesome eyeshadow from the MAC Me Over collection! When I bought Mulch, I was a bit disappointed because I was expecting a darker brown eyeshadow. This is the perfect DARK brown shimmery eyeshadow (not shimmery medium brown eyeshadows that seem to permeate the MAC permanent collection). The best way to describe this is that this is a combination of Bronze and Twinks "carbonized" with black. The VP formula makes this go on super smooth. I would buy a back up, but because I have over 100 MAC eyeshadows, it takes me years to go though even one of my favourite colors. I'm sure MAC will re-release this one, or something similiar in the future. There's certainly other colours similar to this one out there, but for all the MAC eyeshadow collectors like myself, this is definitely unique!
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -Unlisted Brand - MACADAMIA NATURAL OIL Deep Repair Mask
paintingitpink 7/8/2011 8:04:00 PM
My hair is: fine, straight, thin, and shoulder length. This mask has changed my hair for the good! I've been using this once a week for two months and my hair is softer and noticeably shinier. I add about 1/2 a pump of the Macadamia Natural oil to it, and I leave it on for 1-2 hours before I wash it out. My hair feels like silk and isn't greasy in the least. Also, because my hair is so thin it's extremely prone to breakage and splitting off. My hair has grown about an inch, which is a record for me, and my ends are shiny and healthy. I can't see how I'll ever stop using this product. For people who live in Canada, definitely check out Winners. I went to several different Winners to find them, and I was able to pick up the mask for $16.99 (as opposed to $27.95 at Trade Secrets), so it was worth the trouble to track down. UPDATE: Sally Beauty came out with their own version of this for around $14 CND. I definitely won't be purchasing this again, because in my opinion this product give the same effect. The only difference is the smell - the one from Sally's doesn't have that sickly oil smell.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair -Unlisted Brand - MACADAMIA Natural Oil - Healing Oil Treatment
paintingitpink 7/8/2011 8:00:00 PM
My hair is: fine, straight, thin, and shoulder length. I used Moroccan oil in the past, and I found that it weighted down my hair slightly. And while I liked the smell when I sniffed the bottle, it seemed to linger in my hair to the point where I would get sick of the smell. Macadamia natural oil is amazing! My hair is light and fluffy from this and never flat. I also like the smell a bit better. The only way to describe it is that it smells like a nutty kiwi. The smell doesn't linger in my hair for more than a few hours. I only wash my hair twice a week and I have thin hair, so the small sampler that I bought lasted me two months! I can see a full sized bottle lasting me over a year. For people who live in Canada, definitely check out Winners. I went to several different Winners to find them, and I was able to pick up the natural oil for $16.99 (as opposed to $36.95 at Trade Secrets), so it was worth the trouble to track down. UPDATE: This stuff definitely leaves a buildup in my hair overtime. I do like to add it to my twice monthly deep conditioning treatments, but I probably won't purchase this one again. I like the Moroccan Oil Light version better.
4 out of 4 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Polishes -OPI - Rally Pretty Pink
paintingitpink 6/1/2011 2:31:00 PM
I LOVE this nail polish! I have over 200+ bottles of polish and I don't have anything like this. It's a gorgeous purple/plumy gold duochrome, that's pretty much identical to MAC's Trax eyeshadow. To me it doesn't seem pink at all. I bought this because I wanted to try the red shatter, but the salon was only selling the two of them packaged together and not individually. I'm really glad that I bought it, because its a shade that I would definitely wear without the shatter. With the red shatter, the plum tones are gone, and it just looks like sparkly gold next to the red. Personally I wouldn't wear this combination in summer, but it would look nice as fall and Christmas nails.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Hair Styling Tools -Unlisted Brand - Curlformers-Hair Flair Ltd.
paintingitpink 4/26/2011 7:26:00 PM
I was intrigued with the concept of these, so I went to Sally's to check them out. It cost me $50 with my discount for the hook and 26 curlformers. For that price they should be magical and life changing, and they really aren't. I have thin/fine/straight hair that doesn't have any curl, and doesn't hold a curl. The first time I tried these I pulled the curlformer too close to my scalp, and they left these flattened patches where the base of the curlformer was. It looked awful. The second time I placed them about 1/2" away from my scalp for better results. But I wasn't impressed with them enough to spend that kind of money on them. There's absolutely NO way I would ever sleep in them, because they are stiff and hard, so I can only use them when I'm home all day. The markup on these things are absurd. They really seemed like they should be in the dollar store alongside of the foam rollers that work just as well. I was looking on eBay, and they sell something similar from China called "Magic Leverag". Where they came up with that name, I have no idea. For around $7.00 (INCLUDING shipping) you get a hook and 18 curlformers or leverags!!! I compared the two before I returned my curlformers, and the curlformer hook is a lot better, so I kept that. The actual rollers are a bit shorter than the curlformer counterparts. They definitely won't work for long hair. I have shoulder length hair and they fit great and there's a good 3-4" of hair space left. PM me if you want more details about these magic leverags! UPDATE: I've had much better success with these things lately for two reasons: (1) Even though I have very thin hair, I been sectioning my hair into much smaller curl pieces. I used to use about 20 curlformers for my whole head (about 1 inch pieces of hair) and now I use 40 (1/2 inch pieces). This seems to make the curl a lot nicer and they dry much faster. (2) Because my hair is so flat, I found that twisting my hair for the hook seemed to leave flat patches. If I have to I'll twist my hair for the hook to fit, I'll only twist it once. Once the curlformer is properly positioned, I'll twist the hair back so it falls straight. This, combined with teasing my hair afterward seems to help. If you have thick/frizzy/curly hair disregard this last step, because you'll probably love how curlformers can flatten your hair.
8 out of 8 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Styling Products -Redken - Hot Sets
paintingitpink 4/26/2011 7:14:00 PM
People seem to be getting crusty with this one, so I thought I’d write my review. My hair: baby fine, thin, straight, shoulder length. I've never had a frizzy hair in my life. I've been looking for years for a product that will truly hold curl in my hair. I have around 15 curling irons, countless sets of hot rollers, cold roller sets and they all have let me down at some point. I saw a review for this product and decided to try it out, figuring that I would end up returning it. The key to this product is LIGHTLY SPRAY. I never thought I'd say this, but if I spray my hair liberally with it, the curls end up looking like how they looked wrapped around the curling iron. If this happens, you have to wash your hair and start again. I have been so happy with this product that I've spent the past 2 months testing it out on my styling appliances. Curling iron: Again the key here is to LIGHTLY SPRAY. I section my hair and hold the bottle at least ½ foot away from my hair, and spray a ½ spritz. The key to nice curls is a light and even spray. I wait until I’ve curled my whole hair and then I will comb it lightly with a wide tooth comb. This works for both regular curling irons and conical clipless curling irons. The curls hold until my next hair wash or shower, even if I sleep on them. Flat iron: I’ve never really used the flat iron for straight hair, I’ve only really used it for fly-aways. What I do now it section my hair and spray it with the hot sets. I’ll comb the hair upwards and flat iron the section completely upwards and then wrap it in a velcro roller. Once my whole hair has been set I’ll wait about 30 mins. When I take the rollers out I’m left with the biggest volume of my life. I don’t need to tease, I just lightly brush out my hair and add some shine spray. Hot roller set: I lightly spray each section before setting my hair in my babyliss ceramic rollers. It gives volume and light curl that lasts until I wash my hair again. Again, very LIGHT SPRAY the key, and I’ve never had a problem with crustiness. I also don’t need to spray hairspray after shaking my curls out. Cold set rollers: I’m still on the fence about using this for cold sets. I don’t cold set my hair as often as I should, but when I do it’s usually foam rollers or curlformers. I really like Lottabody setting lotion for cold sets, because it leaves my hair curly without the crusties. I haven’t figured out how to have with damp hair and cold sets and not get the crusties.
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No